Hidden Flame
by MyPenIsInky
Summary: When a boy from the real world is viciously attacked, he wakes up somewhere he would have never expected... OC/Insert, worth giving a chance. M for language and future content.
1. Chapter 1

A/N - New try at an OC/Self insert into Naruto. Might take a while to write and all but you know, shit happens. Anyways, let me know what anyone thinks. Without further adieu, Pikachu I choose you. Or, uh, first chapter.

Some vulgar language, more so at the start, and as expected in a story about ninja's, lots of violence.

* * *

"You jel?"

"I think the word you're looking for is jealous, and I'm definitely not. She's a slut anyways."

My friend frowned as I took another drag of my cigarette.

"That's not the point though Max is it?" he continued. "I banged it, you didn't. So again, you jel?"

I shook my head. My name is Max. I'm sixteen years of age, with black hair and muddy brown eyes; and I'm currently being pestered about my sex life; or lack thereof.

"No time for that," I spoke with a smirk, "Between Halo and masturbation I have next to no time for girls!" Sometimes I disgust even myself.

It was a cold winter evening, and I'd just finished college, so I was stood at the gates with an absolute arsehole I call James. The sun was hiding behind a mass of fluffy white clouds, and the wind was biting my slightly oversized nose, leaving it as red as Rudolph's.

"You should stop smoking though." I spun around to spot he who was speaking. Cindy, an old friend. "That kills you, you know."

A grunt escaped my lips. "I'll be dead by twenty anyways. Drug overdose or a teacher for not completing coursework; whichever gets me first."

"Hopefully a teacher, I'd find it fucking hilarious if Mrs Myers just decided to chase you down and kill you." James was truly an absolute arsehole.

"Myers right?" I laughed. "Wouldn't put it past her. The surname fits."

I stubbed out the cigarette out on the floor.

* * *

I turned off my xbox with a sigh. It was nigh on nine o'clock on a Friday night, and I was sat in on Halo. No friends, no life… All that was really there for me was nicotine. I opened my pack to find just two lonely cigarettes.

"Looks like I have to go shopping!" I chimed cheerfully; although I was anything but.

I threw the cigarettes into my bag and picked a few pound up off my desk, pulling on a light jacket and stumbling as I shoved my feet into an old pair of sneakers.

'I suck at multitasking,' I thought to myself. 'I wish I was female sometimes…' I quickly withdrew that wish before stamping my feet as I ran down the stairs.

"Stop with the noise!" A gruff voice shouted.

"Sorry dad! Going shop, back soon!" With that I slammed the door, followed by an unintelligible shout coming from inside. I pulled my hood around my head and zipped my jacket. Hands in front pockets, I treaded upon the crunchy leaves on my street, turning the corner and cutting through an alleyway. It was dark. They had put streetlamps in the alleyway; an attempt to prevent crime I supposed, but all but one was broke, and even that one only flickered occasionally. It was flickering at the minute, and it always seemed to creep my out.

'Been this way a million times, stop being a pussy Max…' I steeled my resolve and began walking, hesitating when I noticed a group of three boys loitering. Tensely, slowly but surely, I kept walking.

"Oi!" A voice shouted as I walked past them. I ignored it and kept walking. "Oi!" The voice repeated. I felt a hand pull my shoulder and I was facing three youths around the same height as me.

"Where you going? The voice said again. It came from the lad who had grabbed me.

"Oh you know, wherever the wind takes me."

They smirked. "Smart bastard." One of them said. The next thing I knew, the first youth (Youth A, I referred to him as in my mind) threw a right hook, hitting me sweetly in my chin and knocking me back as Youth B and C laughed.

I saw red and stepped forward, headbutting Youth A and splattering his blood all over the tarmac floor, before punching him a couple times as he fell. I moved to the nearest target, Youth C, and tackled him to the floor, and tried hammering his face into the floor. I only got a couple hits before I was dragged off by Youth B, holding me from behind as Youth A regained his footing. I was struck repeatedly for around thirty seconds but it felt like thirty minutes.

'That'll bruise…" I muttered, spitting out blood. I struggled but I was nowhere near strong enough. I would need to be though, as I saw a glint of something sharp and metallic being pulled out of Youth A's pocket.

Within a second, I had been stabbed in the stomach and thrown to the ground. Youth A pulled my phone and money from my pocket, placing it in his own. The pain was intense – worse than anything I had endured up to then in my short life. I groaned and rolled over. A foot hit my face, my head hit the floor, and I blacked out.

* * *

A bright light stung my blurry eyes as I awoke in a bed with crisp, white sheets.

'A hospital,' I thought, 'At least I'm not dead.'

I rolled over onto my side, ignoring the dull ache of a stab wound and closed my eyes. Not long passed before I heard the door creak open, and my head shot up to face the man who had entered.

A string of confused expletives filled my thoughts as a man who could only be likened to a medic-nin from Naruto walked in.

"Hey there kid, so you're awake? Didn't expect you to be conscious so soon."

I frowned. He had a gentle voice but I had no clue what was going on. A dream perhaps? Or maybe this was what Heaven really was? One massive crazy dream.

He noticed my frown.

I decided to ask a few questions. I almost screamed in shock as I began.

"Wh-where am I? Who are you? What's going on?" As I spoke, I noticed my voice to be a few hundred million octaves higher than was usual. Looking down, I noticed my body was that of a small child, perhaps around six years old. Not the best thing to wake up to by any means.

'Where the fuck is the rest of me?'

The medic answered instantly. "You're in Konohagakure. You were found outside of the village two days ago with a stab wound, and me? I'm just a humble chuunin who works at the hospital. But I suppose you can call me Katsumi."

My brain went into overload and I promptly fainted.

I woke up a matter of minutes later, and Katsumi was still there, observing me with a small smile on his face. He had red hair and stood tall – although I suppose at the moment I'd consider all adults tall. His eyes were green and he had a kindly face. I decided to make the most out of the dream.

Katsumi spoke first. "How do you feel?"

I frowned – I was doing a lot of that recently – and rubbed the dull ache in my forehead.

"I've been better I suppose."

"What's your name?"

I opened my mouth as if I was going to speak, then closed it again. I repeated this action once more then decided to give my name. "Max. I'm Max."

Katsumi nodded. "And where do you live Max?"

I shook my head. "Nowhere. I don't know."

Concern flashed upon the red haired nin's face briefly, but was replaced with a friendly smile.

"Where are your parents?"

"Don't have any." It was true. If I was here, in Konoha, and my parents were in the real world whilst I was having an elaborate dream, I technically didn't have parents in this realm of existence.

"You live on your own? Aren't you a bit young?" I once again shook my head.

"I don't know. I think I live alone, I don't remember anything."

Katsumi – taking a leaf from my book – frowned.

"How old are you Max?" I decided to lie. He wouldn't believe I was sixteen, so I told him I was six.

He asked me if I was in the Ninja Academy; I once again said that I didn't know.

He asked me what had happened to me; I once again said that I didn't know.

He asked me what I was going to do; I once again said that I didn't know.

"The only thing I can think of Max, is that we put you in the orphanage. It's nice and there will be lots of kids to play with; you'll be taken care of."

I nodded, it was the only logical option. Before Katsumi could speak again, I asked a question that had been burning me for the past minute. As long as I was here I would make the best of this experience… Dream… Whatever.

"Do you think I could join the Ninja Academy?"

Katsumi smiled and nodded back to me. "If you'd like, I was just about to go off duty. I wouldn't mind bringing you by the Academy to register; the newest class should be starting next month. Then I can bring you by the orphanage too. How's that?" I quickly agreed. As I went to get out of bed, the nin told me the obvious – my clothes had been destroyed in whatever had happened to me so the hospital had given me some. I noticed a black jacket, a white tshirt, black pants, and socks and ninja sandals piled on a chair.

"Thanks for that." I spoke gratefully. As I got out of bed and began changing, I noticed the pain from my wounds, still extremely sore. After I had taken off the itchy white hospital gown, I asked Katsumi if he knew anything that could dull the pain. I realised as he quickly cast a painkilling jutsu on me… The pain was real. This was real.

* * *

That's the first chapter, let me know what you think! All sorts of reviews welcome and appreciated. I'm just getting started here and I hope I have the motivation to keep this one going. If you read this far, I thank you.

Till next time.


	2. Chapter 2

So a second chapter. I'm not gonna waste time, leggo.

* * *

It had been a month since I had awoke. I had lived in the orphanage the past month and today was the first day of the academy. I'd made no friends; the children were… well, childish. It kind of sucked being around ten years older than you appeared. Looks like I won't be getting laid for a while either.

It was kind of shitty now I had convinced myself this was real. Everything was too tangible, too solid, too… Real. No matter how much I tried, I never woke up. I didn't seem to be heading home anytime soon.

I had been told that upon entering the academy I would be given all I needed; a pouch of kunai, shuriken, and all the books I needed on chakra theory and history. I couldn't wait – it was the only time I had childlike excitement since coming here.

The sun was shining brightly in the Konohan sky. There was barely a cloud in sight (Shikamaru probably isn't happy today, I noted dryly) and a hot breeze brushed against my tanned skin – I used to be deathly pale, but Konoha had beautiful weather. I suppose that's why they call it the Land of Fire. As I left the orphanage gates, I stretched and yawned loudly, grinning as I began my journey. My first day at the academy; with my knowledge of Naruto, I'd probably ace it!

* * *

Two hours later, I rued those words. I knew next to nothing about chakra. Nothing about anything that we were studying. I was in the same bout as the other clanless kids – 'We're kind of like muggleborns in Harry Potter,' I thought. 'All the purebloods – or in this case, clan heirs, already know about being ninja.' I snapped out of my daydream as a chuunin vigorously went through what it would mean to become a ninja.

"I see many of you here now. Bright, eager faces. Ready to learn. But are you ready to fight? Are you ready to kill? Are you ready to die? That's what your village may ask of you some day. If you aren't willing to do those things, you can never truly be a great shinobi. Some of you may have come here with delusions of grandeur – Save the princess, tie up the bad guys. That sort of thing. I'm sorry to tell you but in our line of work we're likely to be putting a kunai in the throat of the princess and collecting our pay from the bad guys." The young shinobi wannabes listened with rapt attention – some visibly blanched at the last segment of speech. I had to give it to him, he knew how to give a speech. Looking around the classroom, I was happy to see I was in the class with the characters I knew and loved. I saw Naruto napping at the back of the class.

'Dead last to-be eh?' I mused.

"Shut up! You'll scare the kids! Don't listen to that idiot." It was a freshly chuunin Iruka who spoke at this point. "You'll have a great time here and do many things. I understand that it's your first day, so we'll take it easy. As you leave the classroom you will be given a set of kunai and shuriken. Today we will be doing some target practice." He gave a warm smile and the other sensei – a bitter genin – handed the weapons to the kids as they left.

'Givung six-year olds weapons eh? How irresponsible.'I smirked to myself, until I noticed a certain blonde haired Yamanaka giving me a strange look. I widened my grin and winked at her. She quickly looked away, creeped out.

'Works every time,' I thought, taking my new weapons. The genin shown me where to strap the pouches and after doing that, I followed the rest of the students to the targets.

We all lined up, one by one. As it was our first day, Iruka said that he wanted to pay close attention to what we were doing, so we were trying to hit the target with five kunai, taking turns. I watched as students attempted, a few of them hitting targets but not with enough power for the weapon to stick, as it bounced off harmlessly and hit the floor. As I had no recorded surname, claiming amnesia, I would be last. Sasuke Uchiha stepped up to the targets, kunai ready, cool as ever. His raven hair swished in the wind and I could only think that he already looked like an arsehole. He threw the five kunai in rapid succession, twice hitting the rim of the target and sticking, whilst the others missed.

"Very good!" beamed Iruka. "But we wouldn't expect any less from an Uchiha."

Sasuke smiled brightly and I retracted my earlier opinion. 'Is this before the massacre? Ah, who knows, it's too troublesome to remember. Damn Uchiha.'

"He's so cool!" A young girl gushed and I heard others agreeing religiously.

I shook my head in disdain. Next up was Naruto.

He grinned confidently and threw the five kunai. All missed terribly, and one even bounced off the academy wall it was so off target. A few giggles and laughs escaped the crowd. Naruto spun around angrily with a finger in the air.

"I'll do it next time! Just you watch, I'll do it and then I'll become the greatest Hokage there ever was, dattebayo!" He walked away, head down, obviously ashamed. Next was me. I was confident. I imagined throwing kunai was no different from playing darts, right? All eyes were on me when I remembered I was terrible at darts and I gulped. I swung my poser into my arm and flung a kunai as hard as I could. I heard a thud. It had travelled a couple yards and fell into the grass, short of the target. Raucous laughter broke out behind me and I flushed red with embarrassment. Iruka, ignoring the other students, came over and corrected my stance.

"There," he said. "Try again. And don't try to force it, let the whole movement flow. It may take a while but you'll get it naturally." My next throw missed the target again completely, to the jeers of the crowd. However the one after dug deep into the target with a resounding thud. "Well done!" Iruka praised. My last two kunai missed the target. I was disappointed but the jeers had stopped. I collected my kunai and walked to the back of the line again. It seems like it'd be harder than I thought to become a ninja.

After the target practice, Iruka had given us the books we needed on chakra theory and all the other subjects we'd need. I had taken them straight home to the orphanage.

* * *

There was a dull thud as a kunai hit the edge of the target. Sweat dripped down my face, slowly trailing from my brow to my upper lip. My jacket was discarded on the floor as I stood in t-shirt and pants. I let out a grunt as I threw three shuriken at once, only one hitting the target. I had noticeably improved but it still wasn't good enough. I collected my weapons and kept going.

Itachi Uchiha was anything but the normal ninja. A prodigy amongst a clan of prodigies, he was really something to behold. Rookie of the year aged seven, a master of the sharingan by age eight, a chuunin by ten and now a member of the ANBU – he was truly a special ninja. So when on his way back from some routine ninjutsu practice he heard quite a lot of noise coming from targets on the end of a (what he had thought was) derelict training field, he naturally investigated.

What he saw didn't really surprise him. Many academy students, bitter by their failures on their first day, decided to come back here and train. Most of them ended up drop outs, as they lost the motivation when it truly got difficult.

He silently watched the young boy – his aim definitely needed some practice – whilst sitting on a branch. 'He must be about the same age as Sasuke,' he realised.

He watched for about ten more minutes, seeing massive mistakes the child was making. He sighed. He didn't really like kids but if this was to be a future ninja of Konoha…

I panted heavily, struggling to stand. My six year old body had a pathetic level of fitness – tired after throwing things? I'd have to work on that. I threw a shuriken once more, hitting the target. That was six in a row. I smiled. I was definitely making improvements. I was forced to eat my words (or thoughts, perhaps) as I missed by a couple centimetres on my next throw. I cursed vehemently. It was only my first day but it should have been simple. I had great hand-eye coordination in the real world – but here I was terrible.

"You're doing it wrong." A cold voice spoke behind me.

"I know but – " I was cut short as my breath hitched in my throat upon noticing the boy who had spoken to me. It was scary to think that he could crush me in seconds. I noticed Itachi frown slightly before walking over to me.

"Here, let me show you…" Upon this he went upon correcting my stance and aim.

"You'll find it difficult throwing like that," he continued. "It's not a ball it's a deadly weapon."

I threw a kunai. It flew swift through the air and hit the target no more than half a centimetre off the centre, with a victorious thud.

I grinned. "Now I'm a master marksman I'll be a genin in no time!"

I noticed Itachi smirk. "You hit the target once. It's nowhere near good enough until you can hit every target dead centre whilst moving."

My head drooped, slightly disappointed. I looked up to see Itachi watching me still, a curious look on his face.

"I'll get started on that now then!" I shouted, determined. "Oh and, uh, thanks for the help, Mr…" I decided to not let on that I knew of him. I was supposed to be a six-year old amnesiac academy student, right?

Itachi replied "Uchiha Itachi. You're an academy student?"

I beamed at him. "Started today. My name's Max."

He nodded nonchalantly. I began moving quickly, running and jumping from side to side whilst throwing kunai and shuriken, but every throw missed and within minutes I was exhausted. I thought about asking Itachi for more tips but when I spun around he was gone. 'Someday I'll be that cool,' I convinced myself. Clothes drenched through with sweat, I picked up my discarded weapons, putting them back in pouches and grabbed my jacket, before sluggishly trudging back to the orphanage.

Everyone learned quickly with the help of Itachi, he thought. It's a shame he never helped his brother. His own tricks for the basics were much better than what they taught in the academy, as shown by the vast improvements that Max had made in a brief time under Itachi's tutelage.

"Maybe I should take on a genin team…" He mumbled. He quickly dispelled that notion as he thought about having to go on D-Rank missions again.

* * *

I let the hot water soothe my aching body. Muscles I didn't realise existed were hurting. I spat soapy water out of my mouth which had entered whilst I daydreamed. Today I had met Itachi Uchiha, I realised. So many things hadn't even happened yet. I could possibly change the future if I wanted to. But did I want to? I questioned. It could go horribly wrong. Max decided to not think about it; it wasn't his job. Right now he was a six(teen) year old academy student, and he was sore as fuck.

Stepping out of the communal showers with a towel around his waist, he began drying himself off before picking up the boxers he had left on the floor. No one was in the showers at the minute. They were all outside playing. Sliding his boxers on, he fled to his bunk, wrapping himself in his sheets as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

And there's the second chapter. I'll be finding this difficult to upload though, not much time between college and work but I'll do my best.

Review, let me know what you think.

I know certain plot points I want to introduce, and I have them worked out in my head but I just need something to bridge the gaps :P

Anyways, Until next time, cya!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, this is even shorter than I wanted it to be but I thought I'd get it out of the way. So erm, yeah. Still just trying to bridge the gaps to where I want to be, and I'm trying to decide on how I'd like Max to end up. Any ideas are welcome.

Chapter 3, leggo.

* * *

Rain pattered off the window, droplets sounding like stones bouncing off the glass. The hospital was very busy despite the rain. Car's roared past, splashing through puddles, and people hurried into the hospital to see loved ones. Loved ones who were dying; loved ones who were ill.

In one room, a boy remained still in his hospital bed. He looked peaceful. His family sat around, sombre as they wished within their hearts that he would respond. His mother and father were there – so was his cousin Gary. A girl who had came separately stood back from the family as they spoke to their son's unmoving body. She watched as the boy's mother cried at the thought that her son would never respond. She watched as the two masculine males struggled to hold their stony faces, facades cracking and leaking hints of despair, their eyes slightly tearing.

"We're about, do you want a ride with us?" Cindy shook her head. She watched as Max's parents left. She sat down next to the bed, and slowly, as she tried to fight it, she broke down into tears.

* * *

I awoke with a start in my bed at the orphanage. I had never had such a vivid dream in my life. I had been living in Konoha for two years now, and every day I missed my old life. Sure, the thought of being a ninja was exciting, but I'd much rather prefer to have my friends, my family, and my life back. None of the other kids in my room had stirred as I awoke. I didn't really get along with the children at the orphanage – they ignored me, and I ignored them. However, having a dream like that really made me think. What if I was in a coma? What if what I was doing, each day, trying to live in Konoha, was some convoluted figment of my overactive imagination, and it was keeping me from waking to my friends and family in the real world? I truly missed everyone, and it was heartbreaking to see my family (and Cindy, I added mentally) so devastated due to my condition. I had never really thought before about what would happen if I was ever to die; I never even considered how they would react. Now, I had an inkling of what it would be like. I had never really acknowledged it in life, but I truly had precious people who cared about me. My mother, my father, Gary, James… Cindy. Under the guise of darkness, for the first time in many years, I began to cry. I cried, and cried, and I didn't stop. By the time I had finished, my eyes were red raw and puffy. I soon fell asleep, lost in a shroud of grief and regret; regretting things I never did or said.

* * *

_I rung the doorbell and waited. It was dark, around nine o'clock, and the stars were twinkling almost as though they were in possession of a particularly amusing rumour. The door swung open quickly. _

"_What do you want at – " I looked to Cindy. Her beautiful face was framed by shoulder-length blonde hair, and her blue eyes sparkled brightly. She had came to the door in shorts and a t-shirt, hand on her hip; although her annoyed look turned to one of concern when she saw my state. My lip was busted, and my cheek was bruising rather badly, my knuckles sore and cut. _

"_What's happened to you?" She asked, worry evident in her voice. "Come in, I'll make you a cup of tea!" She pulled me inside (myself providing no resistance) closing the door behind us, and lead me to the kitchen. I leant against the counter as she turned the kettle on. She spun around to face me once more. _

"_Who were you fighting this time?" She inquired. _

"_Just some smackhead who tried mugging me in the alley. He fucking hit me a couple times first too, prick." _

"_Don't swear," She scolded me, "And don't fight either. I worry about you sometimes you know." I turned my head slightly before smiling. _

"_Aww! You worry about me do you Cindy?" I teased. I definitely didn't get the reaction I wanted. _

"_Yeah. I don't really know what I'd do if something happened to you." A rather dark though, I mused. _

_She was close to me now. Her hand was squeezing mine tightly. She pulled me into a hug and lingered._

"_Just be careful." She murmured, head buried in my chest, before pulling away. The next second I remember feeling like an eternity, as Cindy stood there with a sad smile on her face. I slowly leant in and I noticed her do the same. Just as our lips were to meet, there was a loud whistling noise and we broke apart. _

"_Erm, the kettle…" She said, pretty features flushed red. I nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed._

* * *

The next time I awoke it was early morning. I tried to dispel the thoughts of my past before I once again became upset. The last two years in Konoha had not been too great. I had made no friends in my academy class – I was the weird kid, who no one knew. Best to stay away from what you don't know, eh? Naruto arrived late to the academy almost every day, and was constantly getting into trouble. Sasuke however…

When I had started the academy, Sasuke had been unusually happy. That was because he still had a family. I felt quite harsh to have ignored the Uchiha massacre but in my eyes, it was necessary. Sasuke had once smiled; now he was cold and aloof, face stuck in a permanent glare. Loss always affects people, sometimes changes them…

* * *

_The bell rung and I packed all of my books into my bag and looked around. 'Where's Andy?' I thought. 'He disappears all the time now…' _

_I rushed out of the class scouting the crowds before I noticed a familiar mop of dark red hair._

"_Andy!" I shouted. He looked at me coldly, before ignoring me and walking off. He had been like that for the past two weeks – ever since his mother died. I didn't know how to console him on that first night. He wouldn't stop crying. He had been my only true friend in school – at the age of thirteen, I was somewhat an outcast. I watched as my only friend walked away, feeling lonely._

* * *

I shook my memories from my head. It would do no good to dwell on past events now.

In the two years since I had found myself in Konoha, my progress was snail-like. I found myself quite good with Kunai and Shuriken, and above average in Taijutsu – 'Most likely due to my experience in that certain field,' I thought, amused. Although when it came to Taijutsu I was not as physically fit as I'd need to be; I was just naturally a dirty fighter. However my ninjutsu was shocking. I had only just learnt how to find my chakra and there was hardly ANY! I had tried channeling it, which took me over a month to learn, and within seconds I was suffering from chakra depletion. In the month since, my chakra reserves had doubled in size, but what are you left with if you double a drop of water?

'Two drops.' I chuckled at my terrible joke. I had decided that from today on I would work on my chakra control and my chakra reserves.

'It's a shame that Itachi isn't around anymore…' Ignoring that last thought, I got dressed and ran to a training field.

* * *

As I reached the training field, I noticed a lone figure, dressed in an orange jumpsuit stood in the middle of the area, attempting to channel chakra. I smiled at the chance I would have to befriend one of my favourite anime/manga characters.

I slowly walked over and noticed him look at me nervously. He suddenly dropped back into an academy-taught stance (he was rather sloppy I noted) and glared at me, blue eyes fiery with determination.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" He shouted. I raised my hands in defence.

"Hey, I just saw you here and thought I'd say hi. Nothing more, nothing less."

I had to suppress laughter at Naruto's confused face. 'Dead last indeed…' I thought.

"I'm sorry," he apologised sheepishly, "It's just normally everyone stays away." He was unusually mature for his age, I noticed, but then again he would have to be.

"Why's that?" I feigned innocence, knowing that Naruto didn't know the true reason either.

He shrugged.

It took all I had to not tell him everything right there. 'Naruto, it's because you have a fat ass demon fox in your gut, and your father, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime, died sealing that bastard Kurama into you.'  
I'm sure Naruto knowing this early could ruffle some feathers.  
I asked him what he was doing, and just as I expected, he was trying to channel his chakra. I think I was one of the last people in the class to learn that particular skill before Naruto. Well, Naruto still hadn't learnt it. I nodded and decided to give him a few pointers.

"You can't just force it out. You need to find it. I suppose it might be different to everyone but that's how I did it. I just kept concentrating and -" I was cut short as magnificent blue waves of chakra rolled off of Naruto's tiny frame. I was only slightly taller than him myself.

He looked up at me smirking, before releasing the chakra and dropping to one knee, panting heavily.

"Or you can do that." I mused. I didn't hope to imagine that Naruto didn't have ridiculously large chakra reserves - if all academy students had reserves like that, I was pathetic in comparison. I congratulated him quickly and introduced myself.

"I'm Max. I'm in your academy class. Your name is Naruto right?" He nodded.  
"Nice to meet you Naruto." He hesitated slightly, and I felt a pang in my heart as I noticed worry in his eyes. All of that vanished when he shook my hand. I grinned. I suppose I'd made my first friend in the Land of Fire.

* * *

_A cold wind blasted my face, nipping at my nose and ears. The floor was wet but the rain had already stopped. Children littered the front yard, speaking to one another in groups. I was incredibly nervous and incredibly scared. It was my first day of high school and I knew nobody. It was then that I noticed Cindy, stood in a crowd of people. She noticed me also, then smiled and waved me to come over. I smiled back and began walking, school bag straining my fat frame. Yeah, I used to be a butterball. A few years of determination and bullying can change things. Looking back, I regret changing myself. I shouldn't have gave two fucks._

_As I began slowly waddling over, a big boy stood in my way. "Where you going mate? McDonalds is that way." he pointed in the distance and behind him his friends began laughing uproariously, as though he had told the funniest joke ever. _

_I glared at him angrily. "And school is that way. So I think I'll go hear if you don't mind." _

_"But I do mind," he retorted. "Maybe our school will be a bit cramped with your fat arse in it." _

_Tears came to my eyes and I tried to hide them.  
"Aww, are you crying?" The group behind him guffawed. I looked to the floor, embarrassed._

* * *

Never again, I told myself. I'd become strong and I'd never be picked on again.

* * *

There's chapter 3 done. Just wanted to try and flesh out Max's character a bit. Read & Review please! Let me know what you think and all that stuff...

Till next time.


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